Despite the political and media backlash over detaining terror suspects for 42 days, the detention of asylum seekers for more than a year, without charge, is common. Today, new research from the London Detainee Support Group reveals that the policy of detaining refused asylum seekers is a waste of time. The report is available on-line at www.detainedlives.org.
“Detained lives”, a report by London Detainee Support Group shows:
• Detention is a waste of time and money
Detention is supposed to be for the shortest possible time for the purpose of removal, but LDSG identified 188 detainees who had all been held for more than a year, in one case for eight years. Only 18% of these detainees were deported. Detaining refused asylum seekers costs the taxpayer over £68,000 per year, so the detentions of these 188 people have cost over £22 million.
The evidence shows a clear pattern that people from Algeria, Somalia, Iraq and Iran are the most likely to be detained for the longest periods. Forced deportations are not possible to Somalia and Iraq because it is too dangerous. Algeria and Iran routinely refuse to admit people unless they can provide an original passport, meaning that stateless detainees remain in detention for periods of years.
These 188 people have been detained on average for two years, yet 82% of them could not be deported, showing the waste of time and money of indefinite detention.
• Detention is a waste of lives
The research showed that indefinite detention has a devastating impact on the mental health of those detained. The evidence shows that indefinite detainees experience suicidal thoughts, suicide attempts, self harm, depression and post traumatic stress disorder. Not knowing when, if ever, they will be released leads many detainees to feel that they are serving life sentences.
Jerome Phelps, Director of London Detainee Support Group said:
“Indefinite detainees are trapped in a bureaucratic nightmare without end, unable to be released or deported. The UK is one of a very few countries in Europe that persists in detaining people with no time limit, despite the evidence that it does not work. The government does not detain terror suspects for longer than 28 days but it detains asylum seekers for years. Indefinite detention is futile, expensive and immensely damaging, so we are launching a campaign today to end this unacceptable practice.”
Ahmed Abu Bakar Hassan, a genocide survivor from Darfur, who has been detained for 27 months said:
“The door is locked, no window. I feel suffocated. I feel that I’m locked up in a room and the keys are lost. I’m disconnected from life.”
Thomas Hammarberg, the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe recommended in September 2008 that “a maximum time limit for administrative detention be introduced into the United Kingdom legislation, as is the case in France and certain other Council of Europe Member States.”
ENDS
Notes to Editors
LDSG provides a range of services to detainees in Harmondsworth and Colnbrook Immigration Removal Centres near Heathrow, as well in prisons in the London area, including volunteer visitors providing emotional support, practical help via a detainee freephone and asylum support advice.
The Detained Lives research was based on qualitative interviews with 24 LDSG clients detained for more than one year, and quantitative analysis of 188 LDSG case files of detainees held for more than one year since April 2007.
